8/01/2007

PhilippinesLEGAZPI CITY -- Restive Mt. Bulusan in Sorsogon Province spewed yesterday a long column of ash and steam reaching some 10 kilometers skyward.

Bella Tubianosa, resident scientist at the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) in Sorsogon, described the latest explosive episode as "phreatic" or driven by enormous steam pressure and the biggest since its initial eruption in June last year.

Phivolcs said its constant monitoring of Mt. Bulusan failed to give warning signs of the latest eruption.

The ash-laden cloud following the eruption was carried by the prevailing "habagat" or west-northwest wind towards the towns of Magallanes, Juban, Casiguran, Castilla, Bulan, Gubat and Barcelona.